Hi,
My 14-year-old cat had recently a constipation episode. The vet suggested to change her food from 1st Choice for senior cats to Hills's Prescription diet w/d. Although this food has lower fat and minerals and more fibers, it also has more protein (min. 34%) than my current food (min. 30%). My cat being an Himalayan, they have a tendency to have kidney problem. So far my cat doesn't have symptoms of kidney problems, but I was wondering in giving it food with a bit more protein would be such a good idea? Should I ask my vet for a food with high fiber and lower protein than 34%, or is the 4% difference not relevant? I'd like an second opinion,
Thank you!
Maria

Since many cats, especially older ones, don't drink enough water you might want to put her on canned food if you haven't already. This may help with the constipation, since it has a great of water in it.

Thank you for your tip. Unfortunatly, I'm afraid I can't aford canned food. But my cat drinks about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of water everyday and this hasn't changed in the last 6 years I've had it (I adopted her wen it was 8). So I think it's ok for the water part, it's the proteins I'm concerned about. I don't want the high fiber food to cause a problem with kidneys when she doesn't seem to have one so far!

I don't want the high fiber food to cause a problem with kidneys when she doesn't seem to have one so far!

Unless your cat already has some degree of kidney dysfunction, I would not cut down on the protein content of food, since older cats need protein to maintain muscle mass. Has your cat had bloodwork done to check kidneys? If so and all is well, the amount of protein in this food is probably fine.

As for cost, prescription diets from vets are very expensive, where feeding canned food like Friskies would cost about 0.44/per day. Can't get much cheaper than that!